Basic Rate per hour (total for up to 5 persons)    $20
Minimum charge per day    $100
Minimum Deposit to reserve a day    $100
Flat Rate per day (for over 5 persons)    $300
Additional fee per mile if I drive my own vehicle    $0.40

 *Fees are subject to change

All rates above apply to local birding in Ohio. I expect to ride along with you in your vehicle and serve as your navigator and birding guide. There is no extra fee if you pick me up at home in Sugarcreek. If I have to travel somewhere to meet you, then I will charge an additional fee of my basic rate per hour plus any other charges (like fare for air, bus, or train or gas & mileage for my car or a rental). I also require that my lodging be paid if overnight accommodations are required.

Make checks or money orders (in U.S. Dollars only) out to Greg Miller Birding and send to:

Be sure to include your name and contact information (phone & email where you can be reached) along with your proposed reservation date(s) with your payment. I process reservations on a first-come-first-served basis. Phone calls and emails only announce your intentions, but are not sufficient to reserve a day.

Examples:

1. An individual birder hires me for a single day of 8 hours of birding. The individual sends in the $100 to reserve a calendar day. The birder picks me up at my house in Ohio and they do all the driving. The total cost for the day is $20 x 8 hours or $160. Since $100 has already reserved the day, the remainder, $60, is due at the end of the day.
2. A couple birders hires me for a single day of 11 hours of birding in Ohio. They send in the fee of $100 to reserve a day. ($100 total reserves a day for up to 5 persons) They drive by my house and pick me up and do all the driving. The total fee is $20/hr. That means that 2 people would only pay $10/hr each. The total cost of the day? $20 x 11 hours = $220 total. Apply the prepaid reservation $220-$100=$120. The $120 due at the end of the day is split between 2 people so the remaining cost would be $60 per person.
3. A group of 4 persons hires me to guide them in Texas, a state other than Ohio for 5 days (and 4 nights). The itinerary might look something like this: Day 1-travel to TX & partial day birding; Days 2-4-full days birding; Day 5-partial day birding & fly home. To reserve 5 days, the group pays a total of $500. They pick me up at the airport and do all the driving. They pay for each night of my lodging in a separate room for 4 nights. The total hours of birding might look like this: Day 1-4 hours; Day 2-12 hours; Day 3-10 hours; Day 4-11 hours; Day 5-4 hours. The total hours would be 4+12+10+11+4=41. The total guiding fee for the group would be $20 x 41 hours=$820. Add to this the hours of travel for me to fly to Texas and back or about 6 hours (3 hours of flight time each way) for a travel total of $120. The subtotal would be $820+$120=$940. If my motel room was $60/night, then the lodging cost to the group would be $240 ($60 x 4 nights). And let’s say my round trip airfare from Ohio to Texas was $300. The total cost for the small group would be $820 guiding cost + $120 travel hours + $240 lodging + $300 airfare=$1500. Since $500 was already sent to me to reserve 5 days it is subtracted from the total for the final amount due. $1500-$500=$1000 due at the end of the trip. Split among 4 persons, that is $250 per person (which is only $50 per person per day).
4. A larger group of 10 persons hires me to guide them on a driving tour from Ohio to Arizona and back in a 15-passenger rental van for 14 days (and 13 nights). The group sends me a check for $1400 to reserve 2 weeks worth of guiding. They pick me up at home and do all the driving. The larger group fee is $300 per day. 14 days x $300 = $4200 total guiding fee. Say my lodging is $60, then the lodging total would be $60 x 13 nights = $780. The total cost for the group would then be $4200+$780=$4980. Apply the prepaid reservation to get the price to pay at the end of the trip $4980-$1400=$3580. Split among the group of 10 people that is $358 per person or less than $26 per person per day.
5. A small group of 4 people hires me for 1 day of birding in Ohio, but they want me to do all the driving in my own car. They send in a reservation fee of $100 to reserve a day. I pick up each of the 4 participants at their homes and we bird for 16 hours. The basic rate is $20/hr x 16 hours=$320. In this example we have driven 400 miles. The additional fee for using my own car is $0.40 per mile or $0.40 x 400=$160. The total fee for the day would be $320+$160=$480. Subtract the prepaid reservation fee $480-$100=$380 total due at the end of the day. Split among 4 birders this would be $95 per person for a long day out birding.

Sound confusing? It’s not really that bad. Feel free to contact me and we can work out a deal.

Most of my experience is in North America. I offer several different kinds of trips based on your desires.

1) The aggressive listing trip to an area with specialty birds (like Florida, Texas, Arizona, or California). These trips would be designed to go after the maximum number of birds on target list of species that you request based on the destination and time of travel.

2) The less aggressive listing experience. Maximum number of species is still the priority, but with less stressful days.  This is often a good way to enjoy going to a new area that you’ve never visited. You’ll have time to enjoy the area and its birds and still come away with a good list.

3) Instructional birding focusing on identification. Maybe you want to learn shorebirds, gulls, or sparrows and you’d like to focus on an area where we can do some study in the field.

4) The photography trip. These are trips for both the casual and professional photographers wanting to get a good shot of a few target species. These are designed so you spend more time taking pictures and less time trying to the find the birds (that’s what I’ll help you with).

5) Leisure birding with time for sightseeing or other wildlife as well. This is for folks who just enjoy being out birding and want to have a good time. It’s also for those who would like to hang out with me and ask questions about my big year or the book or movie or consulting on a Hollywood set.

The benefit of custom tours is that we can do most anything you want. You won’t have to deal with a large group if you don’t want it. You make your own choices about who is in your group of birders. You get to choose where and when you want to go. If you don’t know where you’d like to go, I can offer advice. But the choice is still yours.

And I do not book more than one group at a time. In other words, when you make your reservation, you have that date exclusively. Only you and your group have me for the day (or days).

If you have an idea and you don’t see it listed here, then contact me and let’s talk. I’m flexible. I just might like your idea.